By Donald Bryan
The most amazing gift that God gave mankind was the gift of choice. Call it free will, but it is really about the ability to choose. And choice is good, right? After all, when we go to the store, we want choice. And choice is what we have received. Last year, Detroit, for instance, produced over 500 models of automobiles. There are over 80 kinds of potato chips to choose from! Remember when you could get any flavor ice cream you wanted, as long as it was chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla? But go to Baskin Robbins and you can’t even make up mind because of too many choices.
Choice is everywhere. But how does one choose? Oh, a person can make up his mind about potato chips, but what about the real issues of life? How does one know what to choose? My answer is you don’t know what or how to choose. There has to be some external guideline or boundary that allows a person to choose. Without it, mankind is perfectly able to justify any kind of behavior, lifestyle, or habit as a worthy and satisfactory choice. If there are no markers, or guidelines, we simply cannot choose correctly.
Take marriage, for instance. God established His standard for marriage in the Garden of Eden. One man and one woman in a covenant relationship constitutes marriage before God. But look at all the alternative lifestyles that are being touted as optional choices. These aren’t really choices, even though they are “available”. But these alternate lifestyles are being justified daily in our culture.
The best kind of life is one that is lived according to God’s principles and laws. Even though we don’t always understand their purposes, one should live by God’s plan. God has given throughout His word principles for life. An honest child of God will seek those principles and live them, even without total knowledge or conviction. Why? Because God said, “I will give you choice, but I will give information what the right choice is”.
For instance, God has established principles for holiness, modesty, forgiveness, giving, and prayer, just to name a few. All of these involve choice. And instead of explaining away why these principles aren’t valid, I believe an honest heart will choose to live them. It’s my choice, but without God, I do not know what the right choice is. God’s principles are the right way to live.
